It has been recognized for a long time that a shower is a major source of water and energy wastes. Indeed, many steps performed by a person under the shower jet could be done as effectively, if not more, with the water close. However, few people closes the water while in the shower, the reasons being that a typical installation renders this operation tedious, which most often results in the water temperature being changed in the process.
Considering the above, it is not surprising to see in the literature many attempts to allow easier repetitive openings and closings of the water in a shower. However, as will now be demonstrated, none of the currently offered solutions are effective in changing the very old habits of letting the water flowing during all the shower time, which may explained the lack of successful products on the market to counter this habit and limit water and energy consumptions.
Some of the proposed solutions to the above-noted problems involve a mat or pedal that is position in the tub or on the shower floor and include a foot or weight triggering mechanism to control the opening or closing of the water. These mechanisms are complicated to install and can be hazardous to use considering the slippery floor.
Most of the manually-operated apparatus shower control mechanisms or valves are mountable to or part of the shower head, which share the drawbacks i) of not being adapted to hand showers, ii) to limit their handling to small persons or to those having limited mobility, and iii) remain prone to being left open all time. Also, most manually operated shower control valves are configured to require voluntary actions of the user both to turn it on or off. As such, the user has to voluntarily turn it off once the valve is opened.